Upgrading my home speaker setup, did I make the right choice?

I used to always go with floor standing speakers, but considering my budget is less than $600 for a pair of speakers (and I have a 12" front facing sub) it seems that bookshelves will always sound better in the sub $1000 range.

I currently have small klipsch fronts with slightly bigger yamaha back channel speakers. I almost bought a set of Klipsch RS-28 floorstanding speakers and a $400 klipsch reference center to replace my polk RS2 but honestly I like the polk center despite it being the cheapest speaker I own, it's not worth upgrading right now.

Anyway, living in an apartment I decided to stay with bookshelves. My favorite speakers right now are my JBL-L100 that I have as part of my vintage 2.0 vinyl setup. I was eyeing the JBL 530 but they are out of stock and seem to be discontinued. Since I have a big ass subwoofer anyway, I just ordered a pair of JBL-230s on sale. Most reviews I've read seem to prefer the 230s in smaller rooms despite half the price of the 530s.

Although they are not really a fair comparison, does anyone else have the JBL 230s? Is it worth hunting down a pair of 530s or paying premium for the Klipsch RS-28s? Obviously the RS-28s are a nice looking and superior speaker, considering I listen to music mainly with my JBL-100s or headphones and live in an apartment, it seems foolish to pay that much and I am doubting they sound 8 times or even twice as good as the JBL-230s....

My klipsch fronts (blanking on the model right now) cost about $100 more than the 230s and I was happy with them as stereo speakers, but in a 5.1 setup it seems like 80% of the sound is coming from my budget polk center.

 

JBL230's anyone? Have we talked about the 30 year old v-15 cartridge or bemoaned the lack of cd players and cassette options in 2017 vehicles enough yet?

 

your jbl l 100 are much better then those cheap jbl 230

and i really dont like the jbl l100

 

The latter. They are to die for. Bass may be overwhelming on a small room though. But if you have a big room (say bigger than roughly 15X15) you will find yourself using your sub less and less.

 

I'm wondering if you've heard the jbl 230 or just going on price? I really like my JBL L100s for what they are: a warm and forgiving full sounding speaker that can make almost any vinyl record sound decent. I bought the JBL 230 as a curiosity because I heard a lot of praise to the point of people being confused why they sounded better than JBL's much more expensive offerings. They were cheap. I could still return them so I'm not particularly attached or invested in this purchase. But I have to say, they absolutely blow away my JBL L100 in terms of quality in every metric even before any break in. I wish they didn't, but they sound head over heels better than any $300 or even $600 pair of bookshelves. I have them both paired with a Marantz 2230.

I bought a pair of Klipsch reference bookshelves that I will probably use as side or back channels. I auditioned the RS-28 and loved them more than any comparably priced tower speaker. As much as I want them, I'm not sure I'll be able to enjoy them without being evicted from my apartment. They are detailed, musical, and have balls. They also reminded me why I started to invest so much money into headphone gear after I graduated high school...

 

I personally dont like the jbl l100, but no I havent heard the jbl 230 and I shouldnt have comment on them. jbl/harman is probably the company with the most R&D available and so im sure they can build a surprising good budget 2 way!